


From Seedlings We Grow

by Yaoiloverread



Category: Sky High (2005)
Genre: Angst, Bullying, Fluff, Minor character death (OC), They were young once
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-24
Updated: 2012-06-24
Packaged: 2017-11-08 04:22:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/439107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yaoiloverread/pseuds/Yaoiloverread
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The children of Sky High grow into heroes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From Seedlings We Grow

ETHAN had a superpower. Normally, that would be something great that he could talk about, but he could only turn into a blob of goo. Not only that, its normal setting was orange. He didn't even like the colour. 

But Grandma liked it. When everyone else in his family would say 'Ew!' and turn away, she told him that it was good that he was a bright colour, because then nobody would step on him by accident (especially her in her old age, and forgetting her glasses at the worst times, so wasn't it lucky that she knew where he was all the time? It certainly made babysitting a lot easier). And goo was pretty interesting too, because was it a solid or a liquid (and hah! to modern science, because if none of her grandkids knew what she was talking about, they clearly weren't teaching right in school).

"There's plenty of good things about what you can do, my boy," she would tell him. "You just have to know where to look. There's plenty of people that live without any powers at all, so don't you go sayin' that your powers are useless. You got yourself a gift right there, my boy, and you just gotta know how to look for the good." (She called everyone 'my boy', or 'my girl', because she couldn't always remember their names, so Ethan wasn't too sure about whatever she said).

Then one time, when he was trying to be clear (because that was a lot more useful, he could go anywhere without people knowing, he was better than normal camouflage), and Grandma tripped over him because neither of them saw each other, and Grandma went to the hospital with a broken hip.

"I'm sorry," he cried into her shirt when they visited later (after Ethan's parents told him how disappointed they were that he couldn't look after his grandmother, especially since she's old now, and sometimes forgets things - that's why they hoped that Ethan could have helped, since he was a big boy now, and Ethan only nodded, scared that they found out that it was HIM that Grandma tripped over).

She patted him on the back. "Don't cry, my boy, it's not your fault."

"Yes it is. I was trying to be sneaky, and you tripped over me." He really didn't mean for Grandma to get hurt. He just wanted to find the good points of his power, but it was hard when it was ORANGE.

"Well, then, next time you know to stay orange, so no one else will get hurt. Alright?" Ethan pulled back. Grandma didn't look angry at all, just serious (like when she wanted them to promise something really important).

"I will, Grandma."

[And Ethan followed that promise, to the point where he forgot how to change colours at all, but that was OK, because everyone could see him coming after that. And there were plenty of good points to being orange goo - he'd just have to find out what.]

\---

MAGENTA was gifted. At the age of five, she Shifted for the first time.

Her grandmother, who also taught her, told her that she should Shift into as many different things as possible, so that she could find a shape that she was truly comfortable in. And that she should make sure never to Shift into the same animal three times in a row, unless she was absolutely sure.

Being a very smart girl, she agreed. Being a girl of five, she immediately forgot what she'd agreed to.

In superhero kindergarten, she was one of the first to display her powers. Since it wasn't too dangerous, unless she turned into something big, she made sure to change into smaller animals.

The boys wanted a dog, the bigger and meaner the better, but she didn't like being told to fetch. The girls wanted her to turn into a bunny, so that they could pet it, but she didn't like being petted.

She still wanted to be friends with the other girls, so she changed into cute animals, that they wouldn't like to touch. Cats with claws, birds too small to be caught, and even a fish once. She made sure never to do that again, if there was no water around her.

One day, all the girls crowded around, and asked her to turn into a guinea pig, because one of them had seen one in the pet shop, and Mummy didn't let her pet it. Since they wouldn't stop asking, Magenta Shifted quickly, but the girls rushing forward to pet her made her scared, because she was so small, and so she Shifted back.

Then the boys came over because of the noise, and she hid among them as a guinea pig again, so that the girls wouldn't find her. But then the boys found and caught her, and some of the bullies were poking her with the pencils, and those hurt, so she Shifted back and punched the Big Bully in the face.

The teacher caught her doing that, and so she got a note sent home. Grandmother was angry and sad, and told her how angry and sad she was, that her smart granddaughter didn't know about 'sticks and stones'. But she didn't want to listen, because she was going to cry again because no one was listening to her, and turned into a guinea pig, because that was the first thing she thought of, and ran to her room.

[And when she grew older, and saw the results of letting everyone step over you, she decided that she'd never let any of her peers bully her into anything again. If that meant that she wore black, and developed a sarcastic streak to chase others away, then whatever worked.]

\---

ZACH had an older sister, Anna. She was a lot smarter, and prettier too, because she was a girl, and he was a boy.

She also got Dad's power when she was almost his age (nearly five!), and a lot smaller. Younger than when Dad first started, even. Talented, he heard others call her. Such a gifted girl. Not like her brother.

He didn't really mind. It only meant that Anna could read him stories at bedtime a lot better.

OK, maybe he was jealous sometimes. But that was only because he still needed the light at night, and Anna didn't need anything to chase the monsters in the cupboard away.

But she was still an awesome sister, because together they could make shadow puppets, anywhere.

Dad started pushing for Anna to go to Sky High earlier, because her grades were good enough already, but Mum didn't want her to. She's a bright girl, Dad would laugh. If anyone can reach for the stars, then she can. Not like Zach here, eh buddy? Nah, me and Zach will just have to be the dull ones. They'd all laugh, because Dad was pretty bright himself (and not just in the dark! He was a teacher at the big school), and Mum would drop the subject, because Anna said that she'd like to give it a try.

She did it, and everyone knew her, because she was the girl that shined, brighter than anyone else. There was no more time for shadow puppets and stories, but that was OK, because after Anna finished everything, then she could play with him again.

She looked like she needed more sleep, though. She was doing too much homework (which was boring!), and her light only showed the shadows under her eyes a lot better.

Anna was studying harder, and using her powers a lot (so everyone could see her glowing even when the sun was up), and shining so bright, that everyone noticed when she stepped off the road into the car's way.

Everyone, except for Anna.

[So when Zach finally reached Sky High himself, and noticed another gifted girl, he made sure that she didn't burn herself out too soon, no matter what she said to try to keep him away.]

\---

LAYLA never had a pet. Mummy always said that keeping a pet was bad, because they didn't like to be chained up, or have a leash put on them. But sometimes Mummy had a necklace on, or she put one on Layla too, and those were kinda like the animal collars, right?

The other kids at school always talked about their dogs and cats, and how cute or annoying they were, and Layla wanted to be able to talk about that too, but Mummy didn't let her keep a pet, and the plants didn't count (because once she tried to talk about how she couldn't get the apple tree to give her lemons for lemonade, everyone just stared at her like she was crazy. Only Will believed her, and he patted her on the back, and told her that maybe apple trees just didn't like making lemons, and when she told Mummy, Mummy only said that maybe she shouldn't talk about her powers to anyone else for now). Maybe she could have a fish, but fish was the only type of meat that they ate (because Mummy said that the other types of meat were bad, because the animals that she talked to died, and if they could talk then they were people too. Layla wondered, since her plants couldn't talk, if that meant that they could be eaten. SHE couldn't talk to plants, and they couldn't talk back. Animals must be really noisy, she thought), plus all they ever did was swim around, and get eaten.

Plants were so much cooler, and that's not only because she could get the trees to spread their branches a bit more in summer, although she knew now to always put them back where they were (there was that time in winter where she was really sad, because none of the trees were awake, and she tried to get one to wake up and play with her, but it died because it was cold, and even though she put her scarf and hat on it to keep it warm, the tree didn't come back). Mummy said that pets- other animals that normal people kept would die too, and wouldn't it be better if she had a plant as a pet (Mummy didn't get it. She didn't want an animal pet because she wanted one, she wanted a real pet because that's what everyone else was talking about, and she wanted to be able to talk about the same things too. It was hard to be so quiet in school, and having nothing to talk with the others about).

The only other kid she could talk with was Will (because the only thing she could think about talking about were her powers, and it wasn't fair to Will, because he didn't have any powers yet, not like The Commander and Jetstream, the superheroes that Mummy called 'flashy trash, but you'll do better won't you, Layla', because Mummy didn't like that they used violence. Mummy was a sidekick, and wanted Layla to do better than her, that's why she kept trying to get Layla to be friends with Will, and Will was nice, but sometimes Layla wanted to make her own friends, except that none of the others would talk to the 'weird plant girl', and so she got used to only having Will as her friend).

Sometimes she got invited over to the Strongholds' house (right next door!), and whenever Layla came back from a visit Mummy would ask her for what happened, all proud that they knew 'big people', and asked about how Will and her were getting along. And when she said, "Fine, Mummy," Mummy would come round and give her a hug.

[So Layla stayed by Will's side, and cheered him up when he was sad, and followed him to Sky High, and then the Sidekick class (and Mummy wasn't too happy about that, but since she was still with Will it was alright), and sometime later she also got a crush on him.]

\---

WARREN stood in the snow. He didn't know what to do, even though everyone else was playing and running around in it, and chucking snowballs at each other. Normally, he'd be playing with them, but someone found out about Dad (even though Mum told Warren to keep it quiet, and he'd never told anyone, not any of his friends), and now everyone was avoiding him (even the teachers were being quiet, and they stood as far from him as they could, because they were scared of Dad). It was unfair. He wasn't anything like Him at all (in the orange jumpsuit, and the handcuffs, laughing about how much Warren glared like him), and he didn't like to hurt other people at all.

But no one would believe him now, because Dad was a supervillain. Just last week, one girl had poured her drink into his face (and she said it was for her daddy, because Dad had hurt him when doing bad things long ago, and so it was her turn). He was too shocked to say anything (the juice was cold, and very sticky), and the adults had paused, before telling him to go clean himself up (and no one even came near him. He heard later that the girl was cheered by her friends for doing so, and none of the adults came forward to help).

The other kids were in their own groups, and there was no space for him. He could see them talking about him (some looking in his direction and laughing, or pointing at him and whispering to each other, or staying far, far away from him), and he was the only one by himself. Even the teachers on playground duty were all together.

He was wondering whether to go back into the warmth of the classroom (instead of out here, where everyone looked at him like he was about to explode at any moment) when something hit the side of his head. One of the boys nearby had chucked a snowball at him (saying that he would be just like Dad, a bad guy just like him), and showing off to the other girls (just because Warren hadn't fought back to any of the words didn't mean he didn't hear them. Or get angry, but Mum said to always 'keep your temper, Warren, don't be a hothead', so he couldn't fight back in case he lost control).

They came closer and closer (and the adults were watching that he wouldn't hurt them, and they were afraid that if he hurt one of the kids that they wouldn't be able to stop him - 'hold your temper, Warren'), but were pulled back by one of the teachers (she tried to look unafraid, but he could see her looking at her out of the corner of his eye, and he wondered how she could be scared of a kid that didn't want to hurt anyone).

"You should just stay away from us." He wasn't sure who said that, and didn't turn to look (because if he did, he wasn't sure that he wouldn't get angry, and Mum said to 'keep as calm as you can. Deep breaths, Warren'). There was nothing else he could do about any of them (if they were going to be scared of him, then let them).

He went back in by himself, and if the snow melted into his hair faster than normal, no one said anything, because they were all scared of him.

[A month later, Warren finally lost his temper, when the looks and stares and name-callings got so bad, and some of the bigger boys caught him out the back after school. Three boys got sent to the hospital, and Warren thought that this was what being just like Dad meant.]

\---

Before Sky High, there was GWEN, and there was Daddy.

Gwen asked about Mummy once, after learning about families at school, but Daddy didn't say anything about her. He just looked really, really sad, and made her fix the toaster again.

(Daddy was really bad at making toast.)

But Mummy must have been really bad, because Daddy was nice, and people who made Daddy sad were bad people.

(She didn't want to be bad, so even though she really, really wanted to know, she didn't ask any more.)

She went looking for Mummy herself.

She found a photo book in the attic, and it was very dirty and dusty.

But she also found Mummy. Mummy, who had the same powers as her. Mummy, who was a bad guy, and was de-fea-ted by 'The Co-mman-der' and 'Jet-stream'.

Daddy found her there, looking at the picture of the pretty armor broken into pieces and crying, and hugged her.

Daddy said that 'The Commander' and 'Jetstream' were bullies, and had hurt Mummy so bad, she couldn't come and see her pretty daughter growing up, and that's why he was sad.

Then he said, "Don't cry.

We'll fix it together."

And, because Daddy was really bad at fixing things, Gwen knew she'd have to do it herself.

[Although minions were acceptable. Especially if they belonged to you already, and that was something Stitches should have told her long before she made such a fool of herself.]

\---

WILL wasn't like either of his parents. He knew that, but didn't really like it. Dad was strong, and could lift cars (he did that once, when the ball rolled under it during their game), while Mum could fly really fast (and that's why she was never late, because she could just fly anywhere). He knew that they were waiting for him to develop his powers, and so was he (but he really hoped that they came soon. Maybe he could carry a car as well as Dad did, or go flying with Mum).

But as he grew older and older, and no powers came, Dad and Mum became disappointed that Will hadn't shown at all (but Will was the most disappointed, because he knew that everyone was expecting him to be just as great as both his parents, maybe even combined, and how could he be that if he had no powers?). Layla already had hers, and he hoped that maybe it was because girls grew up faster than guys, and hopefully he'd get his soon.

He still tried to lift the weights that Dad got him for his tenth birthday ('because that's when my old man gave me my first set too, and we Stronghold men have our traditions'), every day, but it didn't do any good. Layla said that it'll come when he needed, but Will secretly wondered whether that was true for her powers (and how someone could need plants, or have a need to talk to animals like Mrs Williams next door).

The wrestling show that he'd flicked through on the TV one day, while Layla was over, gave him a sort of answer. At the sight of the two men wrestling in the giant ring, she'd asked him to change the channel.

"Why?" He was curious. They both seemed nearly as strong as Dad, and maybe that's how Dad fought as well (he'd totally win over any of the bad guys with that headlock).

"Even though it was fake, I definitely don't like the idea of violence. It doesn't solve anything, and people get hurt."

"Wait... it's fake?" He couldn't tell, even though he squinted at the screen (the two guys looked like they meant business).

"It's just one of those things, that everyone seems to know." She shrugged. "Change the channel please."

He did, but that night, in his bed, he thought about it more. Maybe he could do that too (fake it, he meant. Just until his powers turned up).

[And then he got to Sky High, still powerless, and met all his other friends, and found out that his parents didn't mind if he never had any superpowers (OK, maybe Dad was a little disappointed). But he turned out alright in the end.]


End file.
